TLM,CB-Case 1: What Happened to Rerun's Caterpillar?
by Dolores-the-Dip
Summary: When Rerun's pet caterpillar is nowhere to be found, everyone helps him look for his fuzzy friend. (8:58 am)


They're Life's Mysteries, Charlie Brown

**Case 1: What Happened to Rerun's Caterpillar?**

* * *

It was a normal day in the PEANUTS gang's clubhouse and everyone was enjoying themselves. Linus was playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe with Franklin, Lucy was listening to Schroeder play the piano, Sally was drawing a picture of Linus, Peppermint Patty was asleep in the floppy beanbag and Charlie Brown and Marcie were curled up together, talking. All was calm, until Rerun burst into the clubhouse, that is.

"FUZZY'S MISSING!" screamed Rerun as everyone (except Peppermint Patty, she kept sleeping) stopped what they were doing.

"What do you mean by 'missing'?" asked Lucy.

"I went to feed him, but he was gone!" Rerun explained, holding up some leaves.

"Who's Fuzzy, Sweet Babboo?" Sally inquired.

"He's Rerun's caterpillar." Linus enlightened.

"Oh..." replied Sally. "Well he can't be that far."

"I checked the whole room!" Rerun continued as Franklin grabbed a notepad and wrote down the statement. "He's not in his case! What if he escaped?"

"We'll find him." Linus comforted.

"Thanks, big brother." Rerun smiled.

"Now come on, PEANUTS Gang! We have a caterpillar to find!" explained Franklin.

"We're coming!" Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Sally, Marcie and Charlie Brown replied.

"Thank goodness…" the youngest Van Pelt breathed a sigh of relief. "Fuzzy's probably worried sick."

"Coming, Sir?" Marcie asked, nudging Peppermint Patty, but to no avail. The tomboy just kept sleeping. "Guess not."

"Come on, Marcie!" called out Lucy. "A caterpillar's life is at stake!"

* * *

At the Van Pelt's house, Rerun showed everyone Fuzzy's cage. "This is his food and this is his exercise branch and this over here is his bed and his water container."

"Impressive," Franklin took down some notes before seeing something dangling from the exercise branch. "What's that, Rerun?"

"I don't know, Franklin. It looks like a booger to me…" the five-year-old explained.

"Ew!" grimaced Lucy.

"So, where's Fuzzy?" asked Sally.

"That's the problem, Sally. He's missing!" Rerun repeated.

"But he couldn't have crawled out of the cage." Schroeder reasoned.

"He's right." Marcie agreed. "_But_ if Fuzzy's been very energetic, he could've escaped."

"No, he's been tired lately." Rerun explained.

"Well, that crosses off that theory." Charlie Brown hesitated.

"What's a theory?" asked Rerun and Sally in unison.

"It's an idea." Franklin replied. "It can even be a philosophy."

"I love philosophies!" Sally exclaimed. "And that's my new philosophy!"

"We can sing AFTER finding Fuzzy." Schroeder sighed.

"Yeah, we're looking for a caterpillar…" said Linus.

"I've checked my shoes." Rerun beamed.

"Good idea…" determined Lucy. "I DON'T want a caterpillar's death haunting me all my life."

"Me neither." Linus agreed.

"I don't see a bug on your shoes." Charlie Brown denied.

"How about IN our shoes?" asked Lucy in disgust.

"Maybe." Linus replied.

"I doubt it, Sweetie…" said Sally wittily. "NO ONE would want to hide in Lucy's smelly shoes."

"WATCH IT!" huffed Lucy, turning red in anger as Linus and Rerun giggled.

"Where haven't you looked, Rerun?" asked Franklin.

"I looked everywhere in the house!" complained Rerun.

"Either Fuzzy's great at hide-n-seek, or someone stole her." Marcie concluded.

"HIM!" Rerun argued. "Fuzzy's a boy!"

"Sorry."

"And who would steal caterpillars?" asked Linus.

"Beats me. Maybe a bird." Marcie shrugged.

"I doubt it…" denied Charlie Brown.

"We'll never know unless we find out." Franklin recalled.

"Or maybe you lost him." Lucy concluded.

"I'd never loose him!" Rerun argued.

"Tough crowd…" sighed Marcie. "There's something about that piece of leaf though, I just can't put my finger on it."

"What about it?" asked Linus.

"It looks familiar."

"Now that you mention it, it does look familiar." Charlie Brown added.

"But what could it be?" asked Lucy.

"Lucy, Linus, do you have any bug books?" Marcie questioned.

"Nope." Lucy sighed.

"Sorry." Linus denied.

"I think we have some bug books back at the clubhouse though." Franklin remembered.

"Let's go!" Schroeder declared. "And Rerun, bring Fuzzy's cage."

"Okay." Rerun smiled.

* * *

Back at the clubhouse, the gang was surprised to find Peppermint Patty still in the same position they left her in and she was still sleeping. On her chest was a half-eaten hot dog with mustard and ketchup. The gang didn't remember seeing that on her before Rerun came to see them.

"So that's where my hotdog went." Charlie Brown realized. "Why haven't we noticed earlier?"

"Some things escape the human eye, Charles." Marcie replied, heading to the tiny bookshelf in the bag. "Hmm…let's see…baseball, birds, Bosnia, Brazil…oh, here it is. Bugs."

"What does it say?" asked Linus as he and Rerun walked towards her.

"Check it out, this is a model of a caterpillar's life."

"Look, Rerun, that looks like Fuzzy." Linus noted.

"It does. But what's with the booger-thingy?" asked Rerun.

"That, my friend, is called a cocoon." Marcie explained.

"It looks more like a booger." Rerun declared in disgust.

"Actually, Rerun, it's a sleeping bag for caterpillars."

"But Fuzzy already has a bed." Sally called out. "It's right here."

"What else does it say?" asked Rerun.

"After two weeks, the cocoon will hatch…" continued Marcie.

"And Fuzzy will be found?"

"Yes and no. While Fuzzy WILL be found, he WILL have become a butterfly."

"How?" asked Sally and Rerun.

"I know this one." Franklin recalled. "It's called metamorphosis, or a transformation."

"But how does the caterpillar get its wings?" reasoned Sally.

"I can show you that." Franklin replied as he walked to the Little Tykes chalkboard and drew an egg and a caterpillar. "This is stage 1. The egg, and this is stage 2. The caterpillar."

He then drew another caterpillar in a cocoon and drew folded wings. "And this is stage 3. The transformation."

"Wow!" Rerun smiled.

"So stage 4 is the butterfly?" asked Sally.

"Ding, ding, ding. We have our winner." Franklin replied.

"So Fuzzy isn't missing?" Rerun noticed.

"Thant's right, Rerun. Like Peppermint Patty, he's just sleeping." Marcie explained.

"Do caterpillars snore?" asked Sally.

"Why don't you ask a caterpillar?" groaned Lucy.

"I don't want to wake it." Rerun explained himself.

"Good grief." Sighed Lucy.

"But where do catterpillars come from?" asked Sally.

"Eggs." Franklin replied. "Pea sized eggs. That's stage 1."

"Cool!"

"And it just repeats itself, like a rerun."

"Incredible." Rerun noticed.

"In two weeks, Fuzzy will hatch from his cocoon and be a beautiful butterfly." Linus smiled.

"Why didn't we think of metamorphosis earlier?" blushed a humiliated Schroeder.

"Sometimes people make mistakes to get their answers. It's not a fault, it's a normal part of life." Charlie Brown replied.

"Phew."

"Besides, we wouldn't be human if we didn't make the occasional mistake."

"And Charlie Brown has made the most mistakes out of the nine of us combined." Lucy teased.

"Good grief…" Charlie Brown groaned.

* * *

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

* * *

"Everyone, this is Fuzzy." Rerun explained as Fuzzy hatched out of his cocoon and spread his blue wings. The PEANUTS gang watched in awe.

"It's Annie's caterpillar all grown up!" Sally exclaimed

"Alice, Sally..." whispered Linus to Sally.

"Whatever."

"He's so blue, Rerun." Lucy smiled. "The same shade as my dress too!"

"Good grief." Linus sighed, clutching onto his blanket.

"Cool butterfly." Peppermint Patty smiled.

"Agreed, Sir." Marcie replied as the butterfly fluttered onto the tomboy's nose.

"Not one word about angels, Marcie..." bossed Patty.

"I won't say a thing about angels, Sir." Marcie 'promised', crossing her fingers behind her back.

"See, Rerun?" asked Franklin.

"He's beautiful!" Rerun declared.

"Yeah." Schroeder agreed.

"Beethoven liked butterflies?" asked Lucy.

"Why not?" he argued.

"Good grief..." smiled Charlie Brown before looking at Fuzzy again. "We solved our first life mystery. Where was Rerun's caterpillar? In a cocoon. Case closed."

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
